IN THE SPOTLIGHT
HealthLabs, LLC
This week we are spotlighting Tom Dowd, President of HealthLabs, LLC, a leading provider of quality health supplements and upsells for Webmasters.IN THE SPOTLIGHT
HealthLabs, LLC
This week we are spotlighting Tom Dowd, President of HealthLabs, LLC, a leading provider of quality health supplements and upsells for Webmasters. Tom is a veteran in the world of marketing, branding and retail, and has shared his experiences in his ongoing article contributions to YNOTNews.
YNOT: Thanks for joining us this week Tom!
Tom: Thanks for the opportunity to speak to this community!
YNOT: Let’s get started here, then! Can you give everyone some background on HealthLabs, some of your products, and the details on your responsibilities?
Tom: I am the President of HealthLabs, LLC (www.HealthLabsLLC.com) and the Founder of a direct marketing company, SellMark, both based in Spring Hill, FL. I also sit on several boards and consult for a few select companies. HealthLabs is a leading provider of quality health supplements specializing in manufacturing for Webmasters and non-supplement retailers. We develop products for vitality/sex, diet, mood, anti-aging, energy and skin with a cream and vitamin/herb for the customer. If it is a supplement, we can make it! We started SellMark to support our client’s needs to directly market the products we manufacture. We also find importing opportunities and broker products through retail channels. I started with HealthLabs two years ago after leaving the retail supplement giant General Nutrition Company as the Sr. Vice President of Retail Stores.
My general duty is to find and build the business to support our growth. I am the front man with all the retail and marketing connections. Having been on the retail side for 14 years, I deal directly with every client to ensure the success of each product. For me, this is the fun part of the business! My “behind the curtain” people are buying the raw materials such as bottles, lids and the ingredients. They are also designing the labels and websites, and coordinating the shipping/billing and manufacturing. I put together this skilled team and each is a star in their own areas of responsibility. This allows me to work with the clients and use my marketing and product development skills without being tied up with product run issues or supply issues.
YNOT: What is your company’s primary focus? Who are your customers?
Tom: The focus right now is to tap into the vastly underserved adult market. We have had a great response to our business stories geared towards adult Webmasters and I will not be satisfied until every adult site is upselling a natural sex supplement. The margins are fantastic and it is a natural assumption that any adult site customer will be interested in a number of sex type supplements such as a big penis pill or herbal Viagra. We never looked to bring supplements into this market until we received a call asking if we could do a “penis pill, like they did on the Howard Stern Radio Show.” So we started looking at the average adult site and saw a huge opportunity to bring branded supplements to the adult world. Our main customer is still 95% MLM and retail stores but with the largest growth coming from the Internet, we are excited to play a large part in this growth. The exciting supplement news for us showed in 2001, as our total supplement growth increased 6.7%, retailers increased 8.3%, mail order increased 9.3% and INTERNET GROWTH INCREASED 25.5%! This kind of growth is largely due to the niche customer… our very target!
YNOT: Wow, that is huge growth! What about all of these other products out there? I mean, you walk into a health supplement store, and there seems to be a zillion products out there, many of which there is skepticism as to whether they work or not. How do you set yourself apart from your competitors? What makes you different?
YNOT: You mentioned earlier that you were in retail for 14 years. Can you tell us a little about your earliest years and perhaps some of your trials and tribulations along the way?
Tom: I grew up working in the retail supermarket industry. My father owned six supermarkets in Yonkers, NY. A supermarket is the perfect training ground for any end of the retail world as volume, merchandising, employees and customers are all at the highest levels. It is the best retail boot camp ever! After my father sold the business and became a landlord, and I was out of school, I went to the “competition” big box supermarkets, worked my way up to general store manager (my big goal), and decided to jump into the multi-store supervisor position with GNC after the Pepsi salesperson told me about the opening. I took less pay but knew I would blow them away after speaking with the Division VP. I did, and worked my way up and through the country with five moves in six years, to Sr. VP of all stores and retail in the U.S. and Canada and zap… GNC sold to a Dutch Company, and then I got the call from HealthLabs! I was on the board of a sister company and beat the hell out of them with the crap products they tried to sell to GNC for years. After the Dutch payoff, everybody was jumping ship and I saw the strong manufacturing connection of HealthLabs and the real weakness in product development. With my connections and skills, it was an easy leap and a great match. With reincorporating and restructuring I am now the main shareholder and we are growing like mad. I practice what I preach and it is paying off!
YNOT: So, does that mean you are a fitness buff then? What things are you into?
Tom: I love the stock market (even after the last two years) and everything to do with business. Golf is also at the very top of my list as is playing XBOX with my five year old… (OK… I play HALO as well and can beat most 14 year olds!) I am a big boy, 6’3” 285 lbs. from years of lifting weights and eating, so I throw around the weights every week to keep healthy and walk/run ten plus miles each week. [Editor’s Note: I now know never to piss Tom off!] I am very active with a skin cancer Foundation — The Foreman Foundation, and HealthLabs is a proud corporate sponsor. I am very busy with a young family and we are always doing something. I do work too much and have been known to go home after a 12-hour day and hide at home so I can keep working… sad!
YNOT: Well hey… at least you seem to be having fun whether you are working or playing!
How does the supplement business feel about the adult industry?
Tom: The supplement business is still very uptight, so this market is very under served. My success can come in part from my ability to recognize opportunity, and this is a huge opportunity to show a whole industry a way to add profits to their business model.
YNOT: What do your friends and family think about your adult Internet involvement coming from such a mainstream background?
Tom: LOL… My wife is great! When I tell her about some of the calls and e-mails we get she thinks it’s funny. My friends are mostly business people and they dig the niche we found in the adult world. They also LOVE taking our Herbal Viagra and always want the big breast pills for their wives!
YNOT: Looks like you have the best of both worlds there! I remember when you were getting more involved in the adult arena some time back, and you came to YNOT asking questions. That was pretty cool.
Tom: YNOT has great contacts and a real serious hard-core group. I have had a few business stories published in YNOTNews and we get great hits and good business questions from your visitors. You folks are setting a good standard.
YNOT: Thanks for the good word. We certainly appreciate hearing that!
So what are some of your likes and dislikes about our industry?
Tom: We get a few people who are not serious people and don’t understand some basic laws of business, but 99% of the time people like yourself have been great and I enjoy working with them. Many fantastic people working the trenches who are tryng to make things happen! The porn stars are a blast to deal with and you cannot beat seeing them in all their glory on your screen as you are speaking to them about business… keeps things fun! We are still in search for a leading star with crossover appeal and connections to take the lead with a line of branded sex supplements. I predict every adult site will sell natural supplements under their own brand! Hey… with these margins and the pressure to find profits, it has to happen!
YNOT: With your years of experience in business, what would you tell someone hoping to maybe get involved in retail for the adult Internet?
Tom: Be different, build a brand, learn marketing skills, sell high margin products to support your branding efforts, have a high attention to detail, and be honest while giving good value. Giving the customer more than they originally expected is also a good way to build a relationship and bring them back. Challenge yourself every day to grow sales and be creative.
My business tip! I also think crossing over to the non-porn market with ads and products is a very smart way to bring people to your site. Look at Jenna and how she crosses over and her success. One Howard Stern Show visit and her site is crushed with hits. Just as the porn stars are learning that crossover equals success, we will see more and more adult sites finding ways to do the same. Building your brand is a great way to crossover and helps your business stand out.
YNOT: Good advice indeed! What kind of stuff do you have planned for some of your mainstream ventures?
Tom: On the retail side, we are trying very hard to strike a deal with Viacom International, Inc. to make the SpongeBob SquarePants children’s vitamins. The Network Marketing launch of www.UltimateVitality.com is also happening this month with a fantastic program that is unique and profitable for everybody that is a part of it. We also have a fantastic sample Energy Pack Program where we put 2-6 energy capsules in a sample give-a-way with the company logo and website on the pack! Costs start at only 40 cents each for 5,000 packs and people LOVE them, as everybody is jetlagged, rundown, hung-over and just beat at trade shows and conventions!
A hurdle we face is the adult Webmaster who does not want to carrying inventory. We have clients who can handle this for them and many outside companies can handle stock as well. Even UPS is running TV commercials on “What can Brown do for you,” pointing out that they can store and ship your product! We even store product and ship as space allows for our clients! The bottom line is, you are making an average of six times your investment per sale plus an extra $3-5 on shipping and handling. That is an excellent investment!
YNOT: Well Tom, this has been a great interview. You really covered areas that aren’t touched upon very often in our industry. I thank you for it, and I’m sure our readers will appreciate it!
Tom: Thanks Jay, and to all the YNOTNews readers out there. This has been fun!
Please e-mail TomDowd@HealthLabsLLC.com with any business or product questions and visit their new site at www.HealthLabsLLC.com!
Do you know a Webmaster with a great story to tell? Someone innovative, unique and perhaps even entertaining? Tell us about this person for future consideration to be “In The Spotlight” here at YNOTNews!
